Multiple cage disintegrator



April 3, 1962 M. PERRINE MULTIPLE CAGE DI Filed April 8, 1960 IN V ENTOR.

PAUL M. PERRl/VE BY jL-yQficaZi. HIS ATTOR E Y 3,028,105 MULTIPLE CAGEDISINTEGRATGR Paul M. Perrine, Lawrenceburg, Ind, assignor to SterlmanFoundry and Machine Company, Inc., Aurora, Ind., a corporation oflndiana Filed Apr. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 21,046 Claims. (Cl. 241-188) Thisinvention relates to an improved disintegrator mill of the multiple cagetype and, in particular, is addressed to the improvement therein whichobviates the serious wearing problem prevalent in existing mills.

In multiple cage disintegrator mills presently in use, the series ofpins which serve as the movable disintegrator elements are secured atone end to rotatable carrier rings, in which construction there is anopening or i clearance provided between the unsupported ends of the pinsand the adjacent faces of the carrier rings.

The unsupported ends of the pins are usually interconnected and securedin a common ring designed to give stiffness to the assembly. In thisconstruction, one of the primary causes of failure of the operativeelements invariably can be traced to the excessive wear of theunsupported end assemblies of the pins, including the ends of the pinsthemselves and the securing rings. This excessive wear is brought aboutprimarily when the material being disintegrated finds its way betweenthe ends of the pins and the adjacent faces of the carrier rings; itbeing appreciated that, during the operation of the mill, these surfacesare rotating in opposite directions thereby resulting in considerablefriction between the elements.

This condition is aggravated by the surprising fact that, when subjectedto the high speed rotational action of the :cages, most of the materialtends to flow towards the ends of the pins. Since there is lessresistance at the ends than at the center areas, the materialconsequently finds its way between the ends of the pins and carrierdisks. This wear inevitably results in the unsupported ends of one ormore of the pins being rapidly worn to the point where detachment fromthe rings occurs, thereby resulting in a breakdown of the mill.

In order to correct for this condition, the invention herein disclosedprovides for arranging one or more protective elements, made preferablyin the form of a metal band, in the mill in such a manner that thematerial passing through the disintegrator is to a substantial extentprevented from passing between the opposing surfaces of the pins andcarrier disks. These protective elements are, therefore, arranged andconstructed to serve as an effective material guide for the purpose ofdirecting the material away from the ends of the pins.

Not only do the bands serve as protective members to prevent thematerial from getting between the opposite rotating surfaces of the pinsand carrier disks, but, just as important, the band is constructed so asto collect sufficient material which is prevented from escaping by thecentrifugal forces generated during operation of the rotating elements.The material so collected covers the inner circumferential surfaces ofthe bands, thus protecting the bands from coming into direct contactwith the remainder of the material and hence, in this way, avoids wearof the bands.

These objects as well as the various other novel features and advantagesof the invention will become apparent from the following description andaccompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a partial vertical sectional view taken through the center ofa disintegrator incorporating the features of the present invention, and

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view taken on lines II II of FIG. 1.

With reference to the drawings, the disintegrator mill ice illustratedtherein is generally similar to the multiple row cage type millspresently in use in the industry, having a cylindrical rigid housing 8,formed by spaced apart end members 9a and 9b which are connectedtogether by a center member 10, the member 10 being altered at thebottom to provide an opening 11, best shown in FIG. 2, for the dischargeof the disintegrated material. The end member 9a i also provided with anopening 12 which communicates with a hopper 13 whereby the material tobe disintegrated is introduced in the mill. A semi-circular shield 14 isarranged concentrically of the shaft 16 and located in the opening 12,for the purpose of protecting the shaft from the material issuing fromthe hopper 13 into the mill. As is the customary practice, the internalportions of the housing 8 that are exposed to the violent pounding andshock incident to the operation of the mill are additionally reinforcedby secondary members, such as plates 15.

The internal operating members of the disintegrator comprises a pair ofopposed co-axial driven shafts 16 and 17 which are arranged to projectinto the housing 8, being supported by external bearings and driven bypower means, not shown. The disintegrator ends of the shafts areprovided with hubs .18 and 19 which are rigidly secured to theirrespective shafts in such a manner that the shaft 16 projects into thehousing farther than the shaft 17, whereby the hub 18 will not interferewith the effective introduction of material into the mill. To each hub18 and 19, there is aflixed a sturdy carrier disk 21 and 22 respectivelyby means of a series of bolts 23, several of which are shown in FIG. 1.Also, as shown in FIG. 1, the carrier disk 22 represents a continuationof the flange portion of the hub 19 whereas the carrier disk 21 is soconstructed that it is made up of two separate disks designated in thedrawing by reference characters 21 and 21a. As in the case of thepreferred location of the hub 13, the divided construction of the disk21 permits ample clearance for the effective introduction of thematerial into the mill.

The distintegrator mill illustrated in the drawings is what is commonlyreferred to as a four row cage type wherein two series of pins 24 and 26are secured to the disks 21 and 21a respectively and two series of pins25 and 27 are also, respectively, connected to the disk 22. The pins ofeach series are located at a common radial distance from the center ofthe disks and equally spaced therearound, extending perpendicularly awayfrom the disks. As noted in FIG. 1, the series of pins, being atdifferent radial distances with respect to the centers of the disks, fitinto a nested relationship with respect to one another and, by virtue ofdisks 21 and 21a being secured to shaft 16 and disks 22 to oppositelyrotating shaft 17, the series of pins 24 and 26 rotate in oppositedirections to pins 25 and 27. The ends of the pins 24, 25, 26 and 27 aresufficiently long to extend through suitable openings in the disks sothat attachment to the disks is effected by upsetting the ends. The endsof the pins 25, 26 and 27 are similarly upset for attachment to therings 28a, 28b and 280. In this particular construction, the rings 28aand 28b are arranged between the carrier disks 21a and 22 and hence, thepins of the counter-rotating series are subject to violent contact withthe undisintegrated and partially disintegrated material. Also, withrespect to the two intermediate series of pins, there exists a slightclearance between the faces of the carrier disks 21a and 22 and the endsof the pins 25 and 26 and the outside faces of the rings 28a and 28b.

As heretofore mentioned, it is one of the objects of this invention toobviate the excessive wear to which the ends of the pins and the rings28a and 28b are subjected. This object is uniquely accomplished byproviding continuous metal bands 29a and 29b which are secured to andadapted to extend perpendicularly from the carrier disks. The bands arelocated so as to encircle the immediate inner series of pins 24 and 25and are of sufficient width so as to extend from the inner faces of thecarrier disks to the inside edges of the rings 28a and 281), whereinthey serve as shields, thereby to prevent material from passing betweenthe carrier disks and the ends of the pins and consequently protect theends of the pins and the inner circumferential surfaces of the rings 28aand 28b.

In addition to the shielding and protection afforded by the bands 29aand 2% as employed in the manner herein disclosed, the band 29a, inparticular, serves as an effective material deflecting or directingmember so that the undisintegrated material is confined to pass towardthe center of the mill, hence resisting and reducing the tendency of thematerial to flow towards the ends of the pins which otherwise wouldoccur, as explained heretofore. An even more surprising result is thefact that the centrifugal force generated during operation of the millcauses the material to be collected in the pocket formed by the bandsand the carrier disks. This material builds up in the area adjacent tothe disks to an extent that the material itself also functions as aprotective agent, this by reason of the fact that the material whichspills over the edges of the bands has been found to slip over thematerial adjacent to the band rather than over and in direct frictionalcontact with the band itself.

It will be appreciated that while the present invention has beendescribed in connection with a four row cage type disintegrator mill,the use of bands as herein disclosed may be employed with equal successin any multiple row cage mill in which the band may be used either as asealing, protecting or material-directing member.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I haveexplained the principle and operation of my invention and haveillustrated and described what I consider to represent the bestembodiment thereof. However, I desire to have it understood that withinthe scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practicedotherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. In a disintegrator apparatus comprising co-axial shafts rotatable inopposite directions, spaced apart carrier disks extending radially fromthe axes of said shafts, secured thereto and rotatable therewith, atleast one series of circumferentially spaced pins connected at the oneend thereof to one of said carrier disks and extending in a directionsubstantially perpendicularly therefrom, and at least one series of pinsconnected in like manner to said other carrier disk, one of said seriesof pins being arranged to rotate within the other series, with theunsupported ends of each series terminating adjacent to the carrier diskof the other series and with a slight gap therebetween so as to form twocages rotatable in opposite directions, rings secured to the unsupportedends of said pins, a continuous annular band arranged adjacent to theunsupported ends of the innermost series of said pins, said band beingsecured to the carrier disks supporting said series of pins and being ofa width suflicient to form a barrier across the gap between saidunsupported ends of said pins and said carrier disks and the portion ofthe ring adjacent thereto.

2. In a disintegrator apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said bandencircles the innermost series of said pins.

3. In a disintegrator apparatus comprising two shafts arrangedco-axially with respect to each other and rotatable in oppositedirections, a carrier disk extending in a radial direction, from theaxes of each of said shafts, secured thereto and rotatable therewith, atleast one series of circumferentially spaced pins connected at one endto one of said carrier disks and extending in a direction substantiallyperpendicularly therefrom, and at least one series of pins connected inlike manner to said other carrier disk and at a radial distance fromsaid shafts greater than that of said other series, said two series ofpins being arranged one to rotate within the other with the unsupportedends of each series terminating adjacent to the carrier disk of theother so as to form two oppositely rotatable cages, a band arrangedadjacent to the unsupported ends of the innermost series of said pinsand secured to said carrier disks and having a width sufficient toextend a substantial distance in a direction along the length of theunsupported ends of said other series of pins.

4. In a disintegrator apparatus comprising a rotatable shaft, carriermembers extending in a radial direction from the axis of said shaft,secured thereto and rotatable therewith, at least one series ofcircumferentially spaced disintegrating elementsconnected to one of saidcarrier members and extending in a direction substantiallyperpendicularly therefrom, and at least one series of disintegratingelements connected in like manner to said other carrier member at aradial distance from said shafts greater than that of said other seriesso as to form two rotatable cages in which construction there is aclearance between the ends of several of the elements and the adjacentinner face of the other carrier member, a band arranged adjacent to theunsupported ends of at least one of said series of elements and securedto said carrier members and extending in a direction along the length ofthe unsupported ends of said elements.

5. In a disintegrator apparatus comprising a shaft, carrier membersextending in a radial direction from the axis of said shaft, one ofwhich is secured thereto and rotatable therewith, at least one series ofcircumferentially spaced disintegrating elements connected to one ofsaid carrier members and extending in a direction toward the other, andat least one series of disintegrating elements connected in like mannerto said other carrier member so as to form two cages, one rotatablerelative to the other and in which construction there is a clearancebetween said elements and the adjacent carrier member, a protectivemember arranged adjacent to the unsupported ends of at least one of saidseries of elements having a width sufficient to extend in a directionalong the length of said unsupported ends of said elements.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

